Fubara, Rivers Assembly Clash Again as School Decay, Tinubu Endorsement Stir Fresh Tensions

Tension has resurfaced in Rivers State as Governor Siminalayi Fubara and the State House of Assembly led by Speaker Martins Amaewhule return to open confrontation barely two months after the suspension of emergency rule and the restoration of democratic structures.

The latest rift emerged during the Assembly’s 31st Legislative Sitting, where lawmakers condemned what they described as widespread decay in public primary and secondary schools. Acting on the report of the House Committee on Education, members questioned why the executive had allegedly failed to act despite repeated alerts over vandalised facilities, overcrowded classrooms, and severe staffing shortages.

Speaker Amaewhule said the situation was “a sad commentary,” accusing the government of ignoring the condition of schools while diverting resources to other activities. “Public schools in Rivers State, particularly at the primary and secondary school levels, are in deplorable conditions; it is a fact,” he said. “The reason is abandonment by people who were supposed to do the needful.”

He said the committee’s findings included cases where a single teacher handled two classes and where schools lacked toilets, electricity and basic security. “That school is directly opposite the police headquarters, yet vandals have taken over and destroyed what little facilities they had,” he added.

Amaewhule questioned why the state had not utilised what he claimed was more than N600 billion left in its accounts by former Sole Administrator Ibok Ete-Ibas. “Is it that we don’t have funds? Of course we have,” he said. He also criticised the halted plan to employ 10,000 workers, insisting the state could not continue running schools with severe staffing gaps. “When it is time for protest, funds will come. When it is time to employ teachers and put them in the classrooms, there will be no money,” he said.

Governor Fubara, speaking at the Rivers State Council of Traditional Rulers’ quarterly meeting, pushed back against the Assembly’s allegations, saying the problems in the education sector did not originate under his administration. “You are aware of the poor state of our schools. They never got to that state in one month or one year; it has been an issue,” he said.

He insisted his government was taking steps to address education and other critical sectors. “Our vision is clear. First, it is to ensure that Rivers State is safe. It includes providing quality healthcare services, which we are already delivering,” he said, listing work at zonal hospitals in Bori, Ahoada, Omoku and Degema.

On the controversial employment issue, Fubara said recruitment would happen only when justified. “I will employ, but it must be based on the needs of the state. I won’t engage in political employment to please everybody,” he said.

In a separate development that further heightened political tensions, the Assembly passed a vote of confidence in President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and urged him to seek a second term. The motion, moved by Leader of the House Major Jack and supported by 25 lawmakers, declared the members’ “unflinching support and unalloyed loyalty” to the president through FCT Minister Nyesom Wike.

Speaker Amaewhule, while adopting the resolution, described the president as a “father” and called for prayers for his administration.

The endorsement, however, triggered immediate backlash online. Paul Ibe, media adviser to former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, accused the lawmakers of abandoning their duties. “Of all the resolutions unanimously adopted by the Rt. Hon. Martin Chike Amaewhule-led House, none had any direct bearing on the people of Rivers,” he wrote. He argued that funds spent on broadcasting the sitting “could have been better spent on the wellbeing of the people of Rivers.”

Another social media user, Mazi Onyokpo, described the move as “misplaced priority,” while @paulnyeso criticised the lawmakers for ignoring urgent security concerns, including the recent kidnapping of Rivers State University students.